NRA at Cherry Ridge: (l. to r.) ANJRPC Acting President Allan Johnson, ANJRPC Regional Vice President Scott Bach, NRA Directors Carol and John Cushman, ANJRPC Regional Vice Presidents (and Women’s Day coordinators) Peggy Hodgkiss and Mike Bodner, and NRA Directors Cindy Julien and Don DiBiasio

The unparalleled success of ANJRPC’s range outreach events - Women’s Day, Youth Day, and Minorities’ Day - has attracted national attention and these events could become the model for a coordinated nationwide event presently being studied by NRA. Several of the NRA Directors involved in this study were invited to attend Women’s Day and its pre-event set-up at Cherry Ridge on June 7 and 8, and we were honored by the attendance of Cindy Julien and Don DiBiaso of Rhode Island, and John and Carol Cushman of New York.

At the pre-event set-up on June 7, these NRA personnel spent two hours interviewing ANJRPC Special Events Chair Peggy Hodgkiss and Fundraising Chair Mike Bodner about their methods and strategies for promoting and executing successful outreach events. Apparently, typical outreach events around the nation that are considered to be successful bring in an average of about 30-45 participants, whereas ANJRPC’s events have attracted as many as 350 participants in a single day. The interview was extremely thorough and detailed.

The NRA Directors also attended the Women’s Day event itself on June 8, and observed the entire activities of the day. They took a walking tour of the instruction on the pistol, rifle, shotgun, and silhouette ranges, mingled with the participants, and even assisted with setup of the staging area for a picnic lunch for several hundred women!

Wrote NRA Director Cindy Julien in a letter to ANJRPC following the event: “The event was well manned, safely run, and I was pleased to see first time shooters hitting well with center fire and rim fire firearms. Many women rushed to show off their targets to friends, while others used cell phones to call home, all excited about how well they did.  Keep up the good work! I will surely be spreading the word on your terrific efforts at the next NRA Women’s Policy Committee meeting and everywhere else I can.”

NRA is studying the concept of a coordinated national outreach event through an ad hoc committee appointed by NRA President Charlton Heston earlier this year. New Jersey is well represented on the committee, as Robert Viden and the author of this article, both ANRJPC Regional Vice Presidents, are members.

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